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Crime

Man shot while driving in Greenfield dies

A shooting ended in a car crash that closed a Greenfield intersection for several hours Wednesday. Around 1 a.m., a car crashed into a sign after the driver was shot while on S. 27th St., police believe.

A fatal shooting ended in a car crash that closed a Greenfield intersection for several hours Wednesday, police said.

Around 1 a.m., a car crashed into a sign in the parking lot of the AAA Wisconsin building on the corner of S. 27th St. and W. Bottsford Ave., near Cold Spring Road.

When police arrived, they found two people in the car injured, according to Greenfield Police Chief Brad Wentlandt. The driver, a 26-year-old Palmyra man, later died at Froedtert Hospital from a gunshot wound to the head. Police did not release his name pending notification of his family.

The passenger, a 27-year-old man, was hospitalized for severe injuries sustained in the crash, Wentlandt said. The passenger, who was not shot, remained at St. Luke's Medical Center. He is expected to survive.

Police found bullet casings along almost a quarter of a mile of 27th St., between Plainfield Ave. and the scene of the crash, Wentlandt said.

"Our best theory at this point is that someone in another car was shooting at the people in this vehicle as they were driving down 27th Street," he said.

Police believe the shooter and the victim knew each other and the victim was specifically targeted, he said.

Kevin McCullough, who was staying at the Quality Inn across the street, said he heard about a dozen gunshots. When he went outside, he saw "a plume of smoke" coming from the crashed car.

Police reopened 27th St. just before 7 a.m., and the crashed car was towed away at about 7:30 a.m. The AAA building remains open for business.

This would be the third time this summer in Milwaukee County that one driver shot at another while riding down a major roadway.